CoastersRZ

Well, it is ashame that they are not keeping the ride in the park. Coney Island has two Chance rides like Jetson`s Jet Orbiters (a helicopter version and an airplane version. Those two rides are always popular with kids (moreso than the Kiddie Circle Freeway, which is the same type of ride that Huck`s Hot Rods is that is being relocated and renamed in the new Nick universe).

Well, when i went down to Floridia in 2004, I thought that the Disney parks had better theming than Islands of Adventure. Not that Islands of Adventure was bad, its just the Disney parks seemed to have more attention to detail. Granted, PKI is no Disney or Universal. But when compared to other seasonal amusement parks, I think that they perhaps have some of the best themed attractions. Although, they could use some work on theming the areas again.

Well, the Nickelodeon Celebration Parade that has been to all the Paramount Parks, except Canada`s Wonderland (until this year) seems to be very well recieved by park guests. My guess is that this will continue to be improved and added upon this year and in coming years.

Yeah, it seems a little high. Especially since PKI normally claims their season pass pays for itself in less than two visits. Heck, I bought my season pass back in September for $70, which included the gold upgrade and free parking for 2006. An almost $40 increase.

Marlfox_21, the Raven was designed by Dennnise Dinn and the crew at Custom Coasters International, with Denise being the daughter of Charlie Dinn. While Charlie Dinn was responsible for constructing The Beast, as construction manager, he did not design The Beast. That feat goes to the late Al Collins, with assistance from Jeff Gramke.

Well when the park opened Nickelodeon Splat City back in 1995, they also added the Crystal Slime Aerobic Mining Maze. This was similar to the play and crawl structures that are in McDonald`s Play Places and were popular at the time with Leaps & Bounds and Discovery Zones. Remember those? The maze was barely ever opened towards the end, and was eventually removed. For a couple seasons they had some traveling displays in that area. Then they added Nick Central and Reptar in that spot.

The animate window is only for controling the views and the camera movements. Form-Z was developed by architecture students, and thus the point of the softwar was to provide flythrough animations of buildings. It would be nice if you could animate it, but that is not what it was designed for.

Yeah, they tend to spread the upgrades over time, But they don`t have a set schedule that says every x years they have to redo an area. And yes, I believe that the heart of Coney Mall is due for an update. Besides IJST, there has been no major changes to CM, besides FoF in 1996, and that barely impacted the heart of CM. You have to go back to 1986 to see the last major update to CM in the form of the Zeyphr, Dodgems and now defunct Skylab.

UncleHenry, you are using Form-Z right? There is no way to animate objects in Form-Z. You can animate the camera positions and move it for an animation, but you can`t animate objects, or not at least with my version of Form-Z. I have worked with Form-Z for rendering buildings that I have designed. (I am an Architecture major at UC in DAAP). Here is my apartment building that I designed last winter.

Um, they don`t really have a set schedule in which they redo areas. For example, Rivertown. Before Tomb Raider: The Ride opened in 2002, the last new addition to that area prior to 2002 was White Water Canyon in 1985.

Blue`s Skidoo IS NOT the baggage claim ride. The kiddie tumble bug will not be in the kiddie land this year as it has been removed. I believe that Blue`s Skidoo is the former Dick Dastardly`s Biplane ride.

Well, I have a somewhat similar situation. I was working the Spin A Ree at Coney on Big Borther Big Sister day. The park was dead because of a storm in the morning, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters weren`t showing up until around 7 in the evening for two hours in the park. Anyway, one of the kids said something along the lines of "You`re the nice guy from the roller coaster last year." It is those kind of comments that make the job thrilling and worht it!

Yes. And how true it is the stories you accumulate after working at an amusement park. I have a bunch from Coney. There was a close encounter of the skunk kind at the Scrambler a couple seasons ago, although it didn`t directly involve me. The skunk tried to make a home in the covered trench for the gears that go out to the ride. Well, the operator that morning didn`t know there was a skunk in there, and it left a smelly situation that lingered around the ride for days afterward! Luckily I wasn`t placed on that ride then!

Yes, that would be the company. Couldn`t remember the name of it. And yes, Brian told the Scout story about the Viking Ship and the stuffed animal.

I will. They give us a hard time at school if people call them "footers." In school it is akin to calling Adventure Express a wooden coaster, LOL. And precisely, you won`t learn if you are never told something.

Yep. Frequently these off season tours will pop into the picnic grove, because that is where the store the cars during the winter before and after they are rehabbed. The only other park that had a representative in attendance was Wyandot Lake. There was a guy there that represents Indiana Beach, and Lake Winnie, and another water park and drive in theater (he worked for a public relations type company, I can`t recall his exact company). Other than that, the presentations were limited to Maureen Kaiser from PKI as well as Brian, an area manager for the rides department. Many may remember him from when he was part of The Beast/SRR/Eagles crew. He then became area manager in Action Zone, but this season he is returning to Rivertown. He told some stories that he had gained over his years at the park.

Arggh! "Footers" are not the correct terminology. They are referred to as footings. Just like "cement sidewalk." Cement is one of the three ingredients in concrete. The other two being aggregate and water. I could go on about the chemistry behing concrete, but this is a PKI board. Enough ranting about architectural terminology. Yes, it was quick. I wanted to get them uploaded and out of the way so that I could focus on homework tomorrow!

On site no. But there were some parts out in the north side of the parking lot. But those still had their shipping packages on. I imagine it won`t be long before vertical steel construction on the Avatar ride begins. I have uploaded my photos to my site, and they can be viewed here

Huh? I don`t fully understand your post there spngbob. You contradict yourself and are not very clear in what you want to say.

Yep. Definantely another fun filled event at PKI! They still have a lot of work to do in Nick Universe before it opens!

Actually, I believe that you are incorrect. As I posted in this thread, you will indeed have to pay the $8 to partake in the construction tour. Regardless if you plan to stay for the pizza, food and presentation portion of the event. Click on the above link from Russ Johnson to see for yourself about the price. But at least they are allowing non-ACE members to attend.

Personally, I think that Parmount Parks has done a pretty decent job with the parks. Yes, they have removed some classic rides, and made some unpopular decisions. But all in all, I think that the parks are in excellent shape and have been making smart moves of late. The parks definantely are definantely better off now than they were the last couple of years under Lindner`s stewardship.

Ok, like that makes sense. The park should install what makes sense to them and what will make the park a better place, and more profitable. While it may involve the things you mentioned, having a specific formula like that is not sound business sense.

Opps! Correct, the campground was always owned by PKI. What I had meant to say was the Kings Island Resort and Conference Center. I mistakingly typed Campground. Sorry for any confusion!

Yeah, so true! A lot of work to be done in the next couple of weeks. But it will all be over in three weeks!